Recipes by Rupa Sethu

Chinese Eggplant in a Thermomix

So I asked my friend, Min, for the recipe for some delicious Chinese Eggplant (Yuxiang Eggplant) that she had made some time back. She sent me the recipe in Chinese! Some Google Translation later, it was clear that I needed help. So she invited me to her kitchen to cook with her. Now when I say cook, I mean that in a loose sense. We actually just played with this super cool gadget on her counter called a Thermomix. This is software driven cooking of the future! There’s even an App to go with the appliance. The screen on the Thermomix asks what you are cooking (in many languages that you can configure) and then leads you step by step – telling you how much of each ingredient to add, it even weighs it for you as you add it, heats and cooks in the jar and finally is also self-cleaning. What more could a new cook need for confident cooking?! We decided to make Chinese eggplant in a Thermomix. Total time from start to finish – 10 minutes! We did land up making it 2 ways – one following the original recipe and one with substitutions to make it low-sodium.

Ingredients

  • Chinese Eggplant – cut on the diagonal as you rotate the eggplant. This gives an origami like effect!
  • Scallions
  • Green onions or leeks
  • Thai red chilis (careful these are HOT)
  • oil
  • Spicy Soybean paste (skipped in the low sodium version)
  • Dark Soy Sauce glaze (skipped in low sodium version)
  • Soy sauce (used coconut aminos and soy sauce substitute in low sodium version)
  • Vinegar (use a 0mg sodium vinegar in low sodium version)

I have intentionally left the amounts out – the Thermomix kept telling us how many grams of each ingredient to add. This is not a precise recipe so feel free to play with the amounts. The only thing to watch out for is the Thai red chilis – those are potent! Find the specific ingredients at your local Asian market.

Method

  • This can just as easily be cooked on the stovetop.
  • We started by following instructions on the display to make Yuxiang eggplant.
  • Add scallions, leeks (or green onions), Thai red chilis, and oil per the steps shown on the display. Let cook for 3 minutes. Basically we heat the oil and let the aromatics release all the flavor.
  • Now add in the eggplant.
  • If using, add in the soybean paste and the dark soy sauce glaze. For the low sodium version, skip this step.
  • For the low sodium version, add in the coconut aminos and soy sauce substitute instead of the previous step.
  • Add in the 2 tsp of sugar.
  • Close the lid and let cook for 5 minutes till the eggplant is tender.
  • Finally, finish with a splash of vinegar.

Yuxiang eggplant or Chinese Eggplant in a Thermomix is so easy to make and absolutely delicious. Serve with fried rice or noodles for a tasty Chinese meal!

NOTE: The original ingredients are all super high in sodium (as you would expect). The flavor is great but as we are on a low sodium diet, compromise is a necessity! I let the aromatics do the work to get flavor and just used the much lower sodium substitutions. While the taste was certainly different, it was still delicious and held its own!